Although personal cleaning compositions have been developed for showers, such as shower gels, a significantly large number of people prefer to use a conventional bar of soap rather than a shower gel. It is believed that one factor responsible for resistance to the use of shower gels is connected to lather generation. Shower gels are provided in containers or dispensers from which the user must obtain a dose. This finite amount of gel will produce a finite amount of lather. In order to produce the lather the user must apply shear to the gel, for example by rubbing the gel on a part of the body. However, the lather so produced is soon washed away by the stream of water from the shower head. Indeed, in some cases the gel can be washed away and wasted before the user has been able to apply the gel to a part of the body and create a lather. A bar of soap, on the other hand, provides a continuous supply of lather even if the stream of water from the shower head is directed onto the soap bar.
In order to deal with this problem it has been proposed to make provision for the generation of lather from a shower gel as soon as possible after the gel is dispensed. One way of effecting this is to use an aerosol to contain the gel. On release of the contents of the aerosol a foam in the form of a mousse is formed substantially instantaneously. The problem with this proposal is that it is a widely held belief that the generation of a lather by the user of a cleaning composition is essential for satisfactory cleaning. The application of a preformed lather, even if perfectly efficacious is not thought to be so.
WO96/09032A discloses a soap free post-foaming gel composition which is particularly intended for wet shaving using a razor. The composition is preferably prepared by forming a base material consisting of water, a water soluble N-acyl sarcosinate salt and a non-volatile paraffinic hydrocarbon. To this thin, relatively low viscosity mixture is added a volatile hydrocarbon such as isopentane. This addition causes the formation of a gel structure. While this composition is satisfactory for its intended purpose of a shaving foam it does not perform well for personal washing mainly because it gives an uncomfortable “stripped” feeling to the skin. This effect is believed to be caused by the composition removing the natural skin lipids which gives a “squeaky” skin feel which users dislike.
The present invention is intended to provide a post foaming gel composition for personal cleaning which feels good to use.